Bar ‘Os Amigos da Severa’ Mouraria Lisbon: Ginja liqueur & midnight fado

Planning a trip to Lisbon? A must-try is to taste a delicious typical Portuguese liqueur: Ginja!  Very popular! You can taste it in many places in Lisbon. My favorite: very tiny bar ‘Os Amigos da Severa’ (friends of Maria Severa, considered as the first fado singer).

Tavern ‘Os Amigos da Severa’ Mouraria Lisbon & owner sr. António Pais serving Ginja liqueur

In the nowadays trendy area Mouraria (a very old Moorish quarter in Lisbon), there’s a tiny tavern called ‘Os Amigos da Severa’ . Already 40 years sr. António Pais is the very friendly owner.  

‘Shot’ of Ginja, a sweet cherry liqueur: 1 euro 🙂  Glass of red or white wine: 0.50 eurocent  🙂 

Tavern ‘Os amigos da Severa’ Mouraria Lisbon, Rua de Barros Queiros 27 Lisbon

10 min. walk from Rossio Square

Most people who visit Lisbon try a glass of Ginja at Rossio Square, a city center tourist attraction, but it’s really worth it to walk 10 minutes from there to sr. António, and taste his favorite Ginja Albergaria, Ginja is a liqueur made of cherry-like berry called Ginja (not surprisingly 😉  The berries are fermented into a brandy that’s slightly bitter, slightly sweet and very sticky.

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Tiny tavern ‘Os amigos da Severa’ Mouraria Lisbon & amigo Felipe Aristimuño

Portuguese liqueur in Lisbon: Ginja with or without a cherry & spit the pit

You can order a Ginja with or without a cherry in it. The berries are on the bottom of the bottle and it requires a fair bit of skill to get just one berry into a glass. Most Portuguese people like to have their Ginjinha ‘com Ginja’ (with a cherry in the glass). If you don’t want it, ask for one ‘sem Ginja’ (without a cherry). The older Portuguese men drink their Ginja in one time. After this, they suck on the berry for a while and spit the pit onto the streets 🙁

Tiny tavern ‘Os Amigos da Severa’ historic area Lisbon & live fado music around midnight

Vocal cords & Ginja liqueur